The Region : Fake Medic Case Grows

Six additional criminal charges were filed against a 32-year-old West Los Angeles woman accused of posing as a La Canada physician and practicing medicine without a license. Kathy Marie Ann Smith, who surrendered to authorities Oct. 20, pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles Municipal Court to 24 counts--13 counts of practicing without a license, nine of falsely advertising herself as a doctor and two of giving false information to the Department of Motor Vehicles and to a bank where she applied for a line of credit. The city attorney’s office said it had uncovered a third location where the defendant--also known as Kathleen Mason--practiced under the name of Dr. Kathleen A. Smith, an actual physician. The investigation began after the defendant advised a patient to go to the emergency room at Midway Hospital, and the hospital told the patient that it did not have a Kathleen Smith on its roster.